Title : Effectiveness of an Overhead Wire Barrier System in Reducing Gull Use at the BFI Jedburg Sanitary Landfill, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties, South Carolina,

Corporate Author : CITADEL CHARLESTON SC DEPT OF BIOLOGY

Personal Author(s) : Forsythe,D. M. ; Austin,T. W.

Report Date : 25 MAY 1984

Pagination or Media Count : 11

Abstract : Studies were conducted at the 110a BFI sanitary landfill near Jedburg, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, South Carolina to determine what bird species actively fed at the landfill and to measure the effect an overhead wire barrier system had on bird populations and behavior. The control study was conducted during 2 December 1983 - 5 January 1984; the wire barrier system was installed 607-January 1984, and the experimental observations were done during 7 January - 3 February 1984. The main species at jedburg were Ring-billed Gulls, Fish Crows and Common Crows. The wire system reduced the mean number of gulls and crow by as much as two-thirds, but did not affect the hour to hour variation in gull and crow numbers. The wire system also reduced the number of gulls and crows soaring over the BFI land-fill when compared with the Dorchester County-SCA landfill. This study showed that a wire barrier system effectively reduced the numbers of gulls and especially crows feeding and loafing at Jedburg.